Respecting Nature
Respecting Nature
You can interept respecting nature in a million different ways, but this is my view on things. This is a useful tool for new scouts, or people seeking to gain the respect of nature.
Respecting Nature is a very delicate term. It depends mostly on how define the word respect. What is respect to your friend? Your enemy? Your guardians or parents? Think about how it changes.
In this light, respecting nature is a lot like respecting a person. Think of the actions you have taken towards Nature, and try to imagine how your mother would feel had they been done to her.
Respecting Nature entails these primary points:
-> Protecting Nature
-> Knowing and Understanding Nature
-> Not interfering with Nature's course
Protecting nature is something we have always done since the dawn of our existence. Although, we often misinterept what needs to be protected. Nature does -not- hurt itself, it is a never ending cycle. If a hawk kills a rabbit, it is because nature has let it. Because of this, most of the protecting we ever do is against ourselves! We are the only element that is outside nature in its own group... we posses the ability to define our own path. How often do you see Rabbits striving to become kings and warriors? No.. sorry.. they just eat carrots, mate, and avoid young peasants with sharp ugly sticks.
Knowing and understanding nature is very fundamental. It is important to understand nature, just as it is to know your best friend. If you understood Nature as deeply as I do, you would understand the great respect of magnitude and life that you find laying asleep.
Not interfering with nature's course is the main idea of respecting nature. Here is a hypothetical question to help you understand it:
"Suppose you were half way from home home walking steadily and saw a rabbit on a popular path with a broken leg. There is also a large, predatory bird overlooking the small animal. "
A few questions to get your head spinning...
A. What would you do?
B. If you saw the footprints of a horse, and you are driven to the conclusion that someone on horse injured the rabbit, would you do anything differently, assuming a human did this?
C. What if it was a fellow injured, and a pack of wolves?
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A. So, the correct anwser can be a variation of this:
-I would leave the rabbit alone, and continue my journey home. Death is a natural part of life, and both rabbit, human, and predatory bird needs to eat. If you deny the bird of food, it isn't respecting nature, perhaps even opposite so.
Another possible anwser:
-I would tend to the rabbit, take it home, and nurse it back to full health. I would also leave some raw meat for the bird to eat.
B. This is a completely different situation. ALWAYS put your fellow brethern above animals. Nature gave us great pontential and ability for a reason.. this is why you must value human life over the life of predators. You shoo away the wolf, they aren't usually too agressive with more then one person.. and you help the person.
C. This is a bit different... if you can be fully sure that a horse back rider did this to the rabbit, then it is time to step in. If neccesary, go back home and appease the bird as well. Damage caused by society should be at all costs reduced and helped. This is part of "protecting nature", even after the damage has been done. Becareful of consequences dealing with the action you took to fix the situation though.
Last question about nature's course:
"If a lightining storm catchs a tree on fire, it is because nature allowed it. I would do nothing to prevent the fire. "
The statement is not completely true. But just because it happened doesn't mean needless damage needs to be done. How can nature benefit from an entire forest burning down aside from purification? These are times when it is our right to intervene.
~Angelburn~
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